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1990s Class Notes

1990
James H. Barker reports he is still practicing telecommunications law with Latham and Watkins in Washington, D.C. (15 years!). He has four kids now, ages six and under.

Trevor Chaplick was featured in an article headlined “Deal-Making Attorneys,” by the Hellenic News Association. He was recently named one of the D.C. Area’s top-ten deal-making attorneys by Legal Times and works as a corporate lawyer assisting company issues such as venture capital funding, initial public offerings, and mergers and acquisitions.

Michael Herring has recently been elected Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Richmond. In an April interview posted online at Richmond.com, Herring discusses his plans for Richmond, specifically in building the relationship between the CA’s office and the police department, returning to “anchor prosecution,” and restoring the public’s confidence in the judicial system.

This past June, Chuck Rosenberg was confirmed by the Senate to work as a U.S. attorney in Alexandria, Va. Rosenberg previously prosecuted espionage and other crimes in Alexandria and Norfolk, served as counselor to FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III ’73 and former attorney general John D. Ashcroft, and also worked as a U.S. attorney in Houston.

Tim McEvoy1991
Tim McEvoy is concluding his tenure on the Board of Directors at Odin, Feldman & Pittleman, a 50-attorney firm in Fairfax, Va. He was selected as one of Virginia’s “Legal Elite” for 2005 by Virginia Business Magazine and recently appeared on the Dan Abrams Show on MSNBC.

Jeff Stredler is a partner with Williams Mullen in Norfolk, Va. The primary focus of his practice is commercial litigation. Stredler was recently named to the Executive Committee of the Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association.

Mike Whitticar is now the head litigation partner for the Fairfax, Va. based intellectual property boutique of Jagtiani & Guttag. He is practicing in the areas of patent, trademark, copyright, trade secrets, and related employment and commercial litigation. Whitticar also does local counsel work in the “rocket docket” assisting out of- state colleagues and law firms. Whitticar and his wife Teri are still happily married after almost 19 years and are blessed with three happy, healthy children. Max is 14, Ford is 12, and Annabelle is 8. They are very tall like their father and participate in basketball, football, lacrosse, swimming, track and field, paintball, cotillion, orchestra, and (for Annabelle) ballet and horseback riding.

1992 Reunion Year
The Honorable William “Bud” Arnot III (LL.M.) along with his firm, Winstead Sechrest & Minick, participated in a seminar entitled “Forensic Science and Medicine Seminar for Lawyers and Nurses.” University professor emeritus Henry Abraham was the keynote speaker and reflected on the history and ethics of appointments to the Supreme Court. A Houston Firm, Winstead Sechrest & Minick only interviews three out-of-state law schools, and Virginia is one of them.

Thomas HoganThomas Hogan has joined Lamb McErlane in West Chester, Penn. as an associate in the Litigation and Post- Trial and Appellate Law Practice Groups. Hogan concentrates his practice in the areas of civil litigation, internal investigations, and matters of fraud. He also counsels corporations regarding ongoing compliance and risk management issues. A former federal prosecutor and assistant district attorney for Chester County, Hogan also has extensive experience in matters involving white collar crime, corruption, terrorism, drug trafficking and violent crime, including appeals in these matters. Hogan has also served as a national trial advocacy instructor for the Department of Justice.

Theodore A. MathasNew York Life Insurance Company announced that its Board of Directors has elected Theodore A. Mathas a member of the Board, with the title of vice chairman of the board. Mathas is also being promoted to chief operating officer of the company.

Allison M. Ritter is the managing partner of Ritter, Rypel & Yasin, a firm specializing in criminal defense in Milwaukee, is. Her husband, Michael Gould ’94, a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve, was called to active duty in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Florida Bar has announced the reappointment of Theodore W. Small for a two-year term to the ABA House of Delegates (Florida Bar Delegate) and a presidential appointment to a three year term to the Judicial Nominating Procedures Committee. Small moved back to his hometown of Deland, Fla. In 2004 and opened his own law practice, primarily representing local businesses in employment law, contract, and business litigation matters.

John West was elected to a three year term on Troutman Sanders’ Executive Committee. West continues to practice in the areas of civil and criminal investigations, administrative law, and health care law in Richmond, Va.

Wu BabyMichael Wu and his wife, Tara O’Brien Wu, welcomed their second child, Michael Richard, on September 22, 2005. He joins big sister Erika (3). The Wu family lives in McLean, Va.

1993
Todd Peppers has begun his fourth year of teaching in the Department of Public Affairs at Roanoke College in Salem, Va., and he remains “of counsel” with the Atlanta, Ga. law firm of Hawkins & Parnell. Peppers is the author of a book on Supreme Court law clerks, titled Courtiers of the Marble Palace: The Rise of the Supreme Court Law Clerks (Stanford University Press, 2006).

Gordon, Feinblatt of Baltimore, Md. recently elected Christopher D. Scott as a member of the firm. He concentrates his practice in the fields of taxation, unincorporated business associations, and estate administration. Scott, his wife Susan, and their four children have happily settled into the northern Baltimore neighborhood of Roland Park. Scott can be reached at his office at cscott@gfrlaw.com.

Tracy Synan moved to Atlantic Beach, Fla. this past March and has quit practicing law in order to pursue real estate. After nine years of marriage, Synan and her husband Eric Nottmeier are awaiting the birth of their second daughter in September.

Stewart Verdery has launched the Monument Policy Group as a new consulting and lobbying firm in Washington. Verdery says he is “excited about the challenge of building a new venture and having the continued opportunity to participate in some truly exciting policy issues in Washington. I expect the firm to grow in size in the coming months and years, but it will remain a small firm dedicated to providing personal attention to each client and substantive experience in areas I know well, such as homeland security and technology/ telecommunications.”

1994
Lisa Foeman Boatwright and her husband, William, welcome the addition of their third daughter, Alivia Rosa, born on November 4, 2005. She joins big sisters, Alexandra Jai (6) and Aaryn Peyton (4). Lisa is Assistant Director of Human Resources for Stafford County (VA) Public Schools.

Michael Gould, a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve, was called to active duty in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. His wife, Allison M. Ritter ’92, is the managing partner of Ritter, Rypel & Yasin, a firm specializing in criminal defense in Milwaukee, Wis.

Bob Grohowski and Glen Guymon '01Bob Grohowski and Glen Guymon ’01 recently traveled to India where they attended a series of meetings with the Indian Ministry of Finance to discuss the regulatory and tax issues facing foreign institutional investors in India.

The U.S. General Services Administration appointed John Phelps (LL.M.) as Chief of Staff. Phelps most recently served as Chief Operating Officer of the Arizona Red Cross, where he was responsible for operations of the sixth-largest American Red Cross chapter in the United States. Previously, Phelps was the Deputy Director of the Arizona Office of Homeland Security and led the creation of systems and processes within the office to provide more effective and efficient support to hundreds of first responder organizations. Mr. Phelps also had a distinguished career in the military that included serving as a Colonel in the U.S. Army, as the Chief of Staff for U.S. Army Legal Services Agency and as a professor and assistant department head for Administration in the Department of Law at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

William N. Wofford of the Hutchison Law Group in Raleigh, N.C. has recently been honored and recognized by his peers in The Best Lawyers in America list for 2007.

1995
Allen Helton is a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy Judge Advocate General Corps and has recently joined with attorneys from other branches of the service to organize a team that assists the Afghan government with developing an Afghan code of military justice. They have also assisted with the creation of a military judiciary system that should hear its first court-martial cases in the coming months. Helton and others have been traveling around Afghanistan training the Afghan military commanders on their new military justice system.

Steven F. PockrassSteven F. Pockrass has joined the Indianapolis office of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart as a shareholder.

Kraig James Powell writes that since 2001 he has practiced municipal and land use law at Tesch Law Offices in Heber City and Park City, Utah.

James “Buddy” and Catherine Robinson are moving to Far Hills, N.J. Buddy has been transferred from AT&T’s mergers and acquisitions law group to the international group based in Bedminster, N.J.

Last year, Ernst H. Rosenberger (LL.M.) was admitted to the Hanseatische Rechtsanwaltskammer, the Bar of Hamburg, Germany.

After 32 years on the bench, he is enjoying an active litigation practice with Stroock. Doug Timmer has joined Northwestern Mutual in Milwaukee, Wis., as Assistant General Counsel – Investments.

1996
After five years in the legal department of America Online, Seth Brown writes he is taking the plunge into the non-profit world and joining the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Chevy Chase, Md. Rosanna Esposito and he remain happily married and live in Arlington, Va. Brown misses Bodo’s Bagels!

Both Cory Caouette and his wife, Catherine ’04 have relocated from the Washington, D.C. area to San Diego. Caouette continues to operate offices of BSIS, a nationwide immigration law firm that he founded, in both Southern California and Washington, DC.

Matt Cooper has recently been named Senior Vice President & General Counsel for Genworth Financial’s Long-Term Care Insurance division in Richmond,Va. Cooper and his wife Kate reside in Richmond with their two children, Ned, (6), and Virginia, (3).

Elizabeth Engle has left the law firm she started in 2003 after having been in small firms since 1996, and begun work in Rosslyn, Va. as an associate general counsel at The Conservation Fund (www.conservationfund.org), a non-member organization devoted to preserving land through brokering and implementing deals with landowners and conservation groups. Engle will be practicing real estate transaction law as well as some minor other general counsel work.

Leezie KimLeezie Kim was featured in the March 2006 edition of Arizona Women as one of the five female attorneys who are among Arizona’s best and brightest. She is currently a partner in Quarles & Brady Streich Lang’s Corporate Services Group in Phoenix, Ariz. Also noted to be the first Asian-American partner in the firm’s history, Kim strengthens the firm with her expertise in representing technology firms in international mergers and acquisitions.

Jody Ruiu-Geisert and her husband Steven were married on December 3, 2005 and have settled in Hoboken, N.J. They are happily awaiting the arrival of their first child in November of 2006. Jody currently serves as Director of Data Protection and Privacy at American Express and Steven is Vice President of Corporate Retirement Products at UBS Financial Services.

Brad Van Horn and his wife, Sherri, announce the birth of a healthy baby boy—Michael Christian Van Horn— May 13, 10:07am, 6lbs, 3oz, 19 inches.

EE Times Online announced that Jing Wang (LL.M.) has accepted a position as senior vice president and chairman of QUALCOMM Asia Pacific, a leading developer and innovator of Code Division Multiple Access and other advanced wireless technologies. Wang will also develop and lead an Asia Pacific Strategy Committee within QUALCOMM’s global business development organization.

Tahesha (Wright) Way has recently been sworn into the Passaic County, N.J.’s all- Democratic board’s vacant seat, making her the youngest freeholder in the county. Way currently lives in Wayne, N.J. with her husband, Charles, and her three children. NorthJersey.com featured a story on Way on July 6: “New and youngest freeholder.”

1997 Reunion Year
David Cappillo has been named partner in the Boston office of Goodwin Procter. Capillo will represent entrepreneurs, startups, venture capital and private equity firms, and private and public companies in a variety of industries, including media, communications, hardware, software, information technology services, and life sciences. He counsels clients on formation issues, corporate finance matters, equity fundraising activities, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and strategic licensing and technology transfer transactions.

Gregory S. Feder joined the finance department of Latham & Watkins as of counsel, resident in the firm’s Washington D.C. office. Feder provides state and federal regulatory counseling and transactional representation of financial institutions, financial services firms, and non-financial companies in the areas of privacy and data security, corporate governance and internal controls, anti-money laundering, payment systems, co-branded and corporate card programs, retail and institutional product development and distribution, electronic banking and commerce, digital signatures, and capital markets. Feder and his wife, Emily Clayton Feder, live in Arlington, Va.

Emily Giffin was featured in The New York Times on July 2, 2006 about her newest novel, Baby Proof. (see In Print section)

Samantha Pelosi joined Ruesch International, Inc., a provider of business-to-business payment solutions headquartered in Washington, D.C., as director of corporate compliance. She ensures the corporation’s compliance with U.S. and foreign anti-money laundering and economic sanctions law. Pelosi currently resides in Arlington, Va.

Brooke E. Pietrzak became a partner in the New York office of Dorsey & Whitney in January. Pietrzak is a member of the firm’s trial department, with a practice that focuses on securities law. She reports that she’s still running “pretty much every day” and continuing to take her “adventure travel” trips.

Elizabeth ’98 and Tony Salgado welcomed their first child and son, Robert Anthony Salgado, on November 7, 2005. The family resides in Alexandria, Va.

Mario Springer was married to Leslie (Sadoff) Springer in Ithaca, N.Y. on July 16, 2005. In attendance at the wedding were John Brownlee, Rick Denhup, Greg Feder and wife Emily (Sisler) Feder, Riche McKnight, and Jeannine Miller ’96. The young couple was about one year late in submitting this announcement, but would like to add that on July 22 they became the proud parents of twin daughters, Nadia Inés and Sadie Diana—who weighed in at 5 lbs. and 5.75 lbs., respectively. Mario is the Real Estate Counsel at Automatic Data Processing, Inc. in Roseland, N.J., (mario_springer@adp.com), and Leslie is a clinical social worker practicing in New York City. The Springer family resides in Maplewood, N.J.

Lori D. Thompson was named “Young Lawyer of the Year” by the Roanoke Bar Association during its 2006 Banquet. The award recognizes an outstanding young lawyer who has demonstrated dedicated service to the community and the legal profession. Thompson is a partner at LeClair Ryan where she focuses her practice on commercial litigation and bankruptcy. She serves on the Board of Governors of the Virginia Bar Association and as Chair of The Virginia Bar Association Young Lawyers Division. Thompson is in her third year of service on the Board of Directors of the Roanoke Bar Association and is a former president of the Roanoke Chapter of the Virginia Women Attorneys Association. She received the 2002 Blue Ridge Legal Services Pro Bono Award. She is also a member of the American Bar Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Virginia State Bar, and the Virginia Women Attorneys Association. Thompson and her husband, Mark, have two children, Sidney (5) and Caleb (2).

1998
Mark H. Churchill is a partner in the trial department at McDermott Will & Emery, in Washington, D.C. On January 31, Mark and his wife, Betsy, were blessed with an addition to their family, Grant Thomas Churchill.

Amy Davis BenavidesHermes Sargent Bates named Amy Davis Benavides partner in the Dallas, Texas law firm. She focuses her practice on commercial litigation, particularly director and officer and other professional liability, securities and intellectual property issues. D Magazine named Benavides One of “Dallas’ Best Lawyers Under 40” in May,  just after College of the State Bar of Texas, an organization that acknowledges attorneys who have made extraordinary educational efforts to keep their skills and knowledge at their peak, selected her as a member. In her spare time, Benavides continues to collect (and sample) French red wine.

Hunton & Williams announced that Edward Elmore was elected partner of the business practice group in the Richmond office. In this new position, he will focus on public and private securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate matters with a particular emphasis on real estate capital markets, representing both real estate investment trusts and investment banking firms.

Michael R. Fassler has recently left his position as a senior associate at Nossaman Guthner Knox & Elliot in San Francisco to accept a position as Assistant General Counsel of Real Estate with the Presidio Trust, a federal corporation which operates and maintains the Presidio of San Francisco.

Wesley Fields received the Young Lawyer of the year Award from the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association. Fields practices real estate law with Bryan Cave in Kansas City, Mo., and is active in community service.

In addition to serving as executive director of Georgia Lawyers for the Arts, Lisa Fortune Moore is the principal of her own firm, the Moore Firm, where she specializes in entertainment, intellectual property, licensing, and visual arts law. She has recently become an adjunct faculty member at the University of Georgia School of Law. She is chair of the entertainment and sports law section, State Bar of Georgia, and was recently voted the 2005 Outstanding Young Nonprofit Attorney by the American Bar Association.

Following graduation, Yoel Kranz married Sarah Baath of Malmo, Sweden. After living in Jersualem, New York, and London over six years, they “have finally settled down in Swampscott, Mass. on Boston’s North Shore. We have four incredible children (Jacob, Miriam, Hanna, and Alex) and are active in our local community. I have just been elected partner at Goodwin Procter in Boston, working primarily in the general corporate and structured finance practice areas.”

Brian Mangino has become a partner with Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. He focuses his practice on private equity transactions and mergers and acquisitions as he represents both private equity firms and private corporations.

For Craig May and his wife, Dianna, 2005 was a busy year. They welcomed their first child, Harris, in March. Dianna finished law school at the University of Denver in May. In August, they bought a new house, and Craig was made partner at Wheeler Trigg Kennedy in the fall. He enjoys his civil litigation practice, but he and his wife “love being parents!”

Stanford McCoy has been appointed Chief Negotiator for Intellectual Property Enforcement in the new Intellectual Property office of the United States Trade Representative. McCoy previously served as an Associate General Counsel in the USTR Office of General Counsel. He is an experienced trade litigator and served as principal advisor to U.S. trade negotiators on intellectual property trade matters, including the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, the intellectual property provisions of U.S. free trade agreements, and the annual “Special 301” review. He has represented the United States as lead attorney in both WTO and North American Free Trade Agreement dispute settlement proceedings. He has also been extensively involved in U.S. Government efforts to improve enforcement of intellectual property rights in China and elsewhere around the world. Prior to joining USTR, McCoy was with the law firm of Covington & Burling in Brussels, Belgium,and Washington, D.C., where his practice included international intellectual property enforcement, international trade law, and other matters.

Gregory Phillips has joined the business litigation and product liability groups of Cleveland firm, Ulmer & Berne. Phillips will concentrate specifically on complex commercial litigation. He previously practiced with Calfee, Halter & Griswold in their Cleveland office.

Curtis RomigThis past spring, Curtis Romig was made a partner by Powell Goldstein, in their Atlanta office. His practice focuses on commercial litigation, particularly in the energy and construction sectors. He has also served as national discovery counsel to a major U.S. retailer. Jennifer (Murphy) Romig continues to teach legal writing at Emory and to coach practicing lawyers on their writing skills. Curtis and Jennifer are the parents of three-year-old Laura and one-year-old James. They live in Atlanta.

Elizabeth and Tony ’97 Salgado welcomed their first child and son, Robert Anthony Salgado, on November 7, 2005. The family resides in Alexandria, Va.

Michael Solecki and his wife, Katherine, welcomed their first son, Charles Kazmier, on April 6.

Valerie Wagner LongValerie Wagner Long joined Williams Mullen in Charlottesville as a partner in the real estate section where she will focus on land use matters and real estate transactions. Long is also a member of the Virginia State Bar, the Charlottesville-Albemarle Bar Association, and the Virginia Bar Association.

Mike Webber has moved to GTC Law Group & Affiliates in Hingham, Mass.

Janell Ahnert1999
Previously an associate for Maynard Cooper & Gale, Janell Ahnert has recently become a shareholder in the firm’s Birmingham office. She currently practices in the firm’s labor and employment group.

Meredith (Paul) Burbank and her husband, Matt, welcomed their second child Molly Grace Burbank on March 15, 2006. They also have a two-year old son, Davis. The Burbanks live in Charlotte, N.C.

Michael C. Rakower received the New York State Bar Association’s Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year Award on January 25. The award recognizes an attorney who has practiced for less than ten years and has a distinguished record of commitment to the traditions of the Bar through public service and professional activities that benefit the public as well as the profession. He is currently a solo practitioner in Manhattan concentrating on federal litigation and commercial disputes.

Mark P. RankinMark P. Rankin has joined the Carlton Fields’s Tampa, Fla. office as an attorney in the white collar crime and government investigations practice group. Prior to joining Carlton Fields, Rankin was an Assistant Federal Public Defender with the Federal Public Defender’s Office, where he served as a trial and appellate counsel to criminal defendants charged with a wide range of cases including fraud offenses, drug offenses, immigration matters, and firearms offenses. During that time, he successfully argued cases in front of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. From 2001 to 2003, Rankin practiced as a corporate litigation associate with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.

Riley Ross, an Assistant Federal Public Defender, recently won a major case that freed a man who had been imprisoned for five years without ever having a trial. The story was featured in an article in the Virginian-Pilot headlined “Suspect in Bank Robberies Freed After Five Years in Jail.” In a July story posted on LegalTimes.com, Mark Stancil was recognized as one of several attorneys launching Supreme Court litigation clinics aimed to give students more exposure and experience with Supreme Court litigation. Stancil is teaching and supervising a clinic at the Law School. In the meantime, Stancil will be moving from Baker Botts to the smaller appellate firm of Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck & Untereiner in Washington, D.C.

On February 11, Jessica (Aldock) Tave and her husband Steven Tave ’00 were thrilled to welcome their second daughter, Alyssa Hannah Tave. Big sister Samantha (2 ½) is very excited to have a new baby in the house.

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